


It Only Takes a Second

by Writer_Geekgirl



Series: Castiel and Dean: A Love Story [9]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 12:22:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12320997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Geekgirl/pseuds/Writer_Geekgirl
Summary: Driving on a dark and rainy night, Dean was distracted only for a second. However, a second was long enough to have catastrophic consequences for Dean, Castiel, and Sam.





	It Only Takes a Second

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the same universe as the other stories in the Castiel and Dean: A Love Story series.
> 
> This story was written in response to the prompt word: screech.

Dean, Castiel, and Sam left the movie theatre after seeing the latest Avengers movie. Castiel never had actually gone to a movie theatre before, so Dean and Sam made sure he got the entire experience, popcorn, soda, too much candy, the works. While they were in the theatre, the sky had opened up and the rain was coming down in sheets. By the time they made it to the Impala, the trio was drenched. Dean turned up the Impala's heater. Castiel shrugged off his trench coat and wadded it up in a corner of the back seat.

"Thoughts, Cas?"

"I see why you thought we needed to see it on the big screen, Dean. There was certainly a lot of action. Some of the fight sequences were not completely believable."

Dean snorted, "That's why they are freaking superheroes, Cas."

Dean, Castiel, and Sam bantered over which of the superheroes was the best as Dean drove to the bunker. Dean claimed none of them could compare to Batman, even if he wasn't in the movie. Sam's favorite was Iron Man, while Castiel thought Thor was admirable. Dean was driving slower than usual because of the limited visibility. He stopped at a red light and turned around to talk to Castiel. 

Sam murmured, "It's green."

Dean turned around and pushed the accelerator before looking to the left. At the last second, Dean realized that the semi that was approaching the intersection from the left was going to run the red light. The driver had jammed on the brakes, but the big rig was sliding on the wet roads. Dean jammed down on his brakes and the tires let out a screeching sound. Dean yanked the wheel a hard turn to the right, but the Impala slid into the side of the truck. Everything went dark.

\---- 

Sam woke up to a paramedic kneeling next to him on the ground. He felt searing pain in his leg. Blood was pooling on the side of his face. He managed to croak out, "Dean? Cas?"

The paramedic gave him a reassuring look. "They're on the way to the hospital already. Please relax."

Another EMT came up with a gurney. Sam could tell they had put a temporary splint on his leg. He looked over at the Impala. The back of the Impala was wedged under the truck. The driver's side door was crumpled. Sam felt like screaming. This felt so similar to when they lost their dad after a demon slammed into the Impala with a truck. As they loaded him into the ambulance, Sam drifted off to unconsciousness again.

Sam woke up to a gentle voice saying, "Mr. Winchester? Can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes. A nurse with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail was sitting next to him with a clip board. Sam confusedly said, "Jess?"

"No, my name is Amanda."

Sam's head cleared some. "My family was in the car with me. What happened to them?"

The nurse gave him a gentle look. "Right now, I want to talk about you. A doctor will be in here soon to give you an update on their condition."

"Are they alive? Can you tell me that much?"

"They were alive when they came into the emergency room. Both are in surgery. That's all I know." She squeezed his hand gently. "You have a concussion and your left leg is broken. It was a clean break. We've already put it in a cast. You also have some superficial cuts and scrapes. I was wondering if there's anyone we can call?"

"I need to call Sheriff Jody Mills in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Can you please get a hold of her for me?" The nurse nodded and left.

Sam looked at the ceiling tiles. The same feeling as helplessness permeated him that he felt when he, Dean, and their father crashed 14 years previously. He felt groggy because of the pain medications the nurse gave him. He closed his eyes.

Sam awoke again to find a doctor staring down at him. She was a tall brunette with a no-nonsense attitude. "How are you feeling, Mr. Winchester? I'm Dr. Lopez."

"I'm fine. I just want to know about my family?"

"What relation is Mr. Novak to you?"

Without hesitation, Sam replied, "My brother-in-law."

"Well, the other Mr. Winchester had some internal bleeding. We've managed to stop that. He also has a broken clavicle and right arm and a slight skull fracture. But, he should have a full recovery. He's extremely lucky. Those old cars don't have air bags and really aren't safe."

"And Ca…Jimmy?"

"I'm afraid he has a head injury. We are unfortunately not detecting any brain activity. With your brother incapacitated, is there another direct family member that can make the decisions about life support?" The doctor asked gently. The doctor looked at him compassionately.

"No, no, don't turn off life support. He'll be fine. I promise you, he'll be fine if you just give him enough time." Sam looked frantic.

The doctor reassured him, "We won't at this time. We just need to know who should legally be making decisions for him. I must warn you that patients are not unlikely to recover from this type of traumatic injury."

"He has a daughter named Claire Novak. She lives with Jody Mills, the person I asked them to contact previously. Can I see my family? Please?"

"I'll ask an orderly to help you with a wheelchair in a few minutes." The doctor turned and left the room.

The phone rang next to Sam on the side table. He managed to reach out and pick it up. "Hello?"

"Sam? It's Jody. I'm on my way."

"Is Claire with you? They want to turn of Cas' life support, but they need Claire's permission to do it. If they get a hold of her, tell her not to. Castiel has gone into a state like this before when he's been injured. Cas will get better. He has to." Sam's voice cracked with emotion.

"Claire's in the truck with me. I'll talk to her. We'll be there in a couple of hours, Sam. How are you?"

"I'll be ok. I'm just really worried about Dean and Cas. Jody, can you arrange to have the Impala towed somewhere where we can get her later. Preferably before they look in the trunk."

"Already on it. Mac Adamson picked it up and is taking it out his place." Sam knew the hunter. He was a little rough around the edges, but could be trusted.

"Jody, please hurry." Sam said raggedly.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, Sam."

A burly male orderly with sandy blonde hair arrived with a wheelchair. "My name is Rex. Who do you want to see first, Mr. Novak or your brother?"

"My brother, please." Rex helped him in the wheelchair. The cast was awkward, but manageable. Rex pushed him to ICU and into Dean's room. Dean was a mass of bandages. He looked battered and bruised, but there wasn't a lot of equipment attached to him. Sam looked at the monitor and could see that Dean vitals were stable. Sam let out a long sigh of relief. He'd seen Dean bounce back from far worse injuries than this.

He knew the worst was ahead with Castiel. "Can you take me to Jimmy, now, please?"

Rex pushed him to a room a few doors down. Castiel laid in the bed motionless, wires and tubes were coming out of him in all directions. Sam knew that Dean would want him to stay with Castiel, to make sure that nothing else happened to him. "Can I stay here for a while?"

"Sure, just call the nurse when you want to return to your room."

Sam wheeled the chair closer to Castiel. He reached out and held his hand. It felt limp and lifeless. "Cas, what's going on? Are you still in there?" Sam closed his eyes tight and sent a prayer to Chuck. He doubted Chuck would notice him, but he still tried. "Why aren't you healing?" Sam had felt many things were unfair in their lives, so many things that they had to give up for others, for the world. The one thing, the only thing besides each other that the Winchesters really wanted, was their angel. When Lucifer had killed Castiel, Dean had gone into a tail spin so bad that Sam wasn't sure whether Dean was going to come out of it. Now that Dean had actually started a relationship with Castiel, it was going to be even worse. It would be ironic to be taken out by a car accident after everything else they had survived.

Sam sat quietly by Castiel for an hour. He felt reassured by the sound of the device helping Castiel breath. Nurses came in and checked Castiel's vitals. Dr. Lopez stopped by again and told Sam there was no change in Castiel's condition.

A nurse came in about ten minutes later. "Your brother is awake. He's asking for you. We haven't told him the condition of his husband." Sam gave her a sad smile. 

"Can you take me to him, please?"

The nurse wheeled him to Dean's room. Dean had a look of dread on his face. "Sam? Is Cas..? When I woke up and you weren't here, I thought you had died or were hurt bad. When they said you were ok, I knew Cas…Cas has to be hurt bad, Sammy, or you would have been here with me." The nurse left to give them privacy.

"Dean, he's alive. There's still a chance. It's just that… I don't know why he's not healing. They say he has no brain activity, but you know he should be able to survive any damage to his vessel. I don't know why he's not healing." Sam voice cracked with emotion.

Dean's face looked bleak. "It was getting too good, Sam. Cas and I were doing really well. Whatever this thing is that's between us, it's been amazing. But you know, whenever I'm happy the rug is about to be pulled out from under us." Dean turned his face away from Sam and looked at the wall.

Sam said quietly, "Dean, you know if there is any way he possibly can, Cas will come back to you. Nothing keeps the two of you apart. Maybe he's even out getting a new vessel. I don't know, but I'm sure he'll be back for you."

Dean ignored him and continued to stare at the wall.

"Dean, I want to get back to Cas. Is that okay? I'm afraid of leaving him unattended, that something might happen. If you need me, you'll know where I'll be."

Sam started to wheel himself out of the room. He heard Dean say quietly, "Thank you, Sam." Sam looked over his shoulder and gave Dean a curt nod.

Sam felt defeated as he returned to Castiel's room. He was still sitting by Castiel when Jody and Claire arrived. The doctor took Claire aside to give her a detailed prognosis of Castiel. Sam looked up at Jody, his eyes full of tears. "I don't know what's happening or what to do."

Jody bent over and kissed Sam's forehead. "Oh, Sam, we'll get through this together."

Sam heard Claire yell, "No!" She ran away from the doctor, sobbing down the hallway into the restroom at the end of the hall. 

"Should you go after her, Jody?" 

Jody shook her head. "Claire likes to be alone while processes bad news. She'll come back when she pulls herself together."

\------

Dean was lying in his bed. He had seen Claire run by and was worried. He feared the worst. He tried to get out of the bed, but couldn't pull the IV out with his arm immobilized. His chest and abdomen hurt like a son of a bitch. He was still struggling with the IV when Claire walked into his room. 

"Hello, Dean." Claire's voice was deeper than normal.

Dean turned to face Claire, startled, "Cas?"

"Yes, this is very unpleasant for both me and Claire. I'm going to go try to heal my vessel enough so that I can re-enter it. I just wanted you to know that I'm fine, if somewhat uncomfortable. I don't want to be inside Claire any longer than necessary."

"Believe me, I don't want you to stay inside of Claire." Dean felt unnerved by knowing his partner was inside their quasi-daughter. As Castiel turned to leave, Dean said, "Cas, I love you."

"You know I reciprocate that feeling but it would feel very odd to say it back at this moment." Castiel gave Dean a small, wry smile. It was a bit strange to see Castiel's signature smile on Claire's face.

Castiel returned to the room with his vessel. Jody stood up and pulled him into a hug. Castiel stood there awkwardly. Jody looked at him, concerned.

"I am Castiel. Claire is in here too. She's fine. I just need a few minutes to repair myself."

Jody looked confused. "What? How did you? When did you?"

"Just now. I asked Claire and she said yes. I believe when my vessel underwent catastrophic trauma so fast, I got ejected from it. It's been a long time since I haven't been connected to it. It feels…odd. Now that I'm in Claire, I should be able to heal myself so I can return where I belong. " He gave a small smile. 

Castiel put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sam, that I couldn't tell you I was fine earlier. I felt it was unwise to try to communicate with you without a vessel. I didn't mean to cause you such distress. Please forgive me." Sam looked at Castiel, relieved.

Castiel moved and stood next to his vessel. He looked at it for a moment before extending his fingers to its forehead. "This is likely to cause a disturbance with the doctors." 

Jody pulled the curtain around to block the view of the nursing station, as best as she could. Bright light emanated from Claire's body. Jody looked nervously at the nursing station, but so far no one had noticed.

"Jody, catch Claire, please." Jody reached for Claire as a bright light moved from her to Castiel's vessel. Claire crumpled against Jody.

Castiel's vessel's eyes flew open.

Claire stood back up. "Cas?"

Castiel blinked at her. He was unable to talk because of the medical equipment. He moved his hand enough to give her thumbs up.

Claire glared at him. "Good, now I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. Don’t you dare die on me again. Got that, dumbass? You're the only dad I got."

Sam finally felt like he was able to breathe. He never wanted to relive the last few hours again. Jody pulled the curtain back. "Doctor, he's awake!" A flurry of activity descended upon Castiel. 

Sam wheeled to Dean's room. "He's awake, Dean. Cas will be fine."

Dean closed his eyes. "I've almost lost him so many times, Sam. Every time feels like the last. I don't know what I would do without him."

Sam gave him a slow smile. "He came back from the Empty for you, Dean. Do you think a little car accident will stop him?"

Dean looked at Sam, startled as he remembered why they were there. "Baby, where's Baby?"

"Someplace safe, but dude, she's a mess. At least I know you put Cas above the car though, since you were worried about him first. Jerk."

Dean glowered at Sam, "Bitch."

\-----

Sam was released from the hospital the next day. Dean three days after that. They kept Castiel for a full week. They had no explanation for recovery. The doctor ran battery of test after test on him. She finally described it as a miracle and let him go.

Jody drove them to the bunker in her sheriff's vehicle. Mary and Claire were waiting at the bunker for them. Mary had just arrived at the bunker after hunting a wendigo in a large national park without cell service. She hadn't known what was going on until that morning.

As the trio entered the bunker, Sam was on crutches, Dean's arm was in a sling, and Castiel walked behind them without a scratch. As soon as they were safely in the bunker, Castiel touched Dean's forehead and healed his injuries. He then walked over to Sam and did the same. Castiel collapsed into a chair with a tired sigh.

Castiel looked at Claire, "Thank you, Claire. I know it wasn't easy on you to let me occupy you. I apologize for that."

Claire leaned over and hugged Castiel. "I would do a lot more than that for you, old man. It did feel kind of creepy. You didn't read my mind, did you?"

Castiel gave her a weak smile. "I'm not going to tell you." Claire frowned at him. 

The group talked for a while, but Dean could tell Castiel was fading fast. Dean walked over and helped him up. "I'm taking my angel to bed. I'll let Sam continue to play host."

All talking in the room stopped. Dean put his arm around Castiel and kissed his cheek. As they rounded a corner and went out of view, Mary, Jody, and Claire all at the same time said, "Are they…? Did they…? Finally, they…?"

Sam broke into a wide grin and nodded his head. "Finally!"

Mary replied, "Well, it's about time. I thought Dean was going to oblivious forever. God, I came so close to losing all three of my boys at once. I don't suppose you can talk Dean out of using Baby all the time and getting a newer, safer vehicle?"

"I'll try, Mom."

\----------

Dean helped Castiel into the bed and closed the door. He picked up his duffel bag and pulled out the trench coat and put it on the back of the chair. "Mac hauled Baby back earlier today. I found this in what's left of her back seat. It's going to take a while to fix her."

Castiel gave Dean an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I distressed you and Sam, yet again."

Dean climbed into the bed next to him. "Just never do that again." Dean pulled Castiel close. "Besides that, I'm the idiot that pulled out in front of the truck. Sam may never let me live that down."

Castiel put his head on Dean's chest. "I love you, Dean."

Dean responded, "I know."


End file.
